In my seemingly never-ending quest to own every EA amp (at least it seems that way at times), I recently ran across a very nice 500 in great condition (thanks to TBer Basss!).

Having gigged with it twice this past weekend, I posted my impressions for interested members here.

It really struck me as a lighter, lower-wattage 800. In any case, it could probably handle all but the largest stages/gigs.

Click to expand...

Nie review.

I was wondering about the use of the Gramma Pad. I had a rather lenghty discussion with Jonh Dong (EA's cabinet designer and co-founder) about coupling and boundry effects that I'll write up and post on the EA website in the near future. In the meantime I was wondering about how/when you use it? are there times that you would rather have the cabinets coupled to the floor? Do you find it more helpful in certain situations than others?

I recently picked up a Gramma pad (from TBer Rev Groove) I have only used it a couple of times. I bought it to use on a club stage that has a wooden riser. I was using my NS Design EUB with iAMP800 and Bergie 210. The club was empty so I tried it both with and without the pad. So far I run my iAMP flat. Off the pad the rig sound very big, not boomy but lots of lows. I did not try shaping the tone in any way. But I would have been able to reduce some of that with iAMP tone shaping. I popped the rig up on the pad and right away the tone was more focused and tighter. The guitar player I was playing with that night immediately noticed the difference as well. I have only ever used it on this stage and one other stage so not a really indepth test of the product. But I do like what it did for me. I would like to sped more time with the pad and tone shaping to see if I can accomplish similar results without the pad.

... In the meantime I was wondering about how/when you use it? are there times that you would rather have the cabinets coupled to the floor? Do you find it more helpful in certain situations than others?

Thanks
Dimin

Click to expand...

I use it mainly when I'm on a raised wooden stage as those tend to be most succeptible to boominess. Yes, sometimes I'd rather have the low-end reinforcement available by coupling to the floor and not using the pad. The Gramma is great for taking away the boom but outdoors on concrete, for instance, its effect is neglible, IME, so I generally don't use it in those cases.

I BOUGHT A IAMP800 ABOUT 6 MONTHS AGO AND WAS NOT SATISFIED AT ALL. THE OVERALL TONE ON THIS BABY WAS NOT WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. I AM IN LOVE WITH THE TONE OF THE EDEN 400, BUT I AM LOOKING FOR SOMETHING WITH A LITTLE MORE POWER. ANY RECOMMENDATIONS. SOME PEOPLE TELL ME THAT IF I WANTED TO KEEP SOMETHING VERY CLOSE TO THE EDEN SOUND THAT THE NEW FENDER 800 PRO WAS AN AWESOME SOLID STATE AMP.
PLEASE HELP...........

On gig #1, EQ was set flat with Countour II punched. The sound was warm, fat and satisfyingly punchy. In other words, just what you expect out of a P bass with flats! The amp was set at about 7.5 on the input and 4 on the output. I never needed to turn the bass full up.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I used to run the gain up higher on my iAMP 500 but I found that my CXL-112 would start farting out. So now I run with the gain around 4 and volume at 7-8, exactly the opposite of your setup.

I BOUGHT A IAMP800 ABOUT 6 MONTHS AGO AND WAS NOT SATISFIED AT ALL. THE OVERALL TONE ON THIS BABY WAS NOT WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. I AM IN LOVE WITH THE TONE OF THE EDEN 400, BUT I AM LOOKING FOR SOMETHING WITH A LITTLE MORE POWER. ANY RECOMMENDATIONS. SOME PEOPLE TELL ME THAT IF I WANTED TO KEEP SOMETHING VERY CLOSE TO THE EDEN SOUND THAT THE NEW FENDER 800 PRO WAS AN AWESOME SOLID STATE AMP.
PLEASE HELP...........

Click to expand...

Thanks for shouting, I needed that.

To quote Todd Vanselus, "I used to hate EA, then I learned how to play!"

I was wondering about the use of the Gramma Pad. I had a rather lenghty discussion with Jonh Dong (EA's cabinet designer and co-founder) about coupling and boundry effects that I'll write up and post on the EA website in the near future. In the meantime I was wondering about how/when you use it? are there times that you would rather have the cabinets coupled to the floor? Do you find it more helpful in certain situations than others?

Click to expand...

Hi Mike,

I just got a Gramma, and have been experimenting with milk crates and stands lately as well. So far, this has been with my Schroeder 1210 and iAMP 800, but I'll do some more testing with my CxL-112 later this week when I'm gigging with it.

The Gramma is not tall enough to meaningfully negate boundary coupling of low bass frequencies (corrections welcomed, as always), but it does a nice job of mechanical decoupling though. The biggest advantage I see is with my EUB, since the peg is better isolated from the low bass output. Also, the more mikes that are open on stage, the more important mechanical isolation of the speaker becomes, in my experience. I play lots of open mikes that feature, well... lots of open mikes. The Gramma has definitely made a noticeable improvement in that situation.

My take: the Gramma's cool for hollow stages or shaky floors. BTW, if you contemplate needing more than two of them, you can buy the foam from Auralex in bulk and make a bunch of 'em yourself at a very substantial savings. My wife suggested that I just get an aerobics step pad, which I think is actually not a bad idea at all.

The Gramma is not tall enough to meaningfully negate boundary coupling of low bass frequencies (corrections welcomed, as always), but it does a nice job of mechanical decoupling though.......

My take: the Gramma's cool for hollow stages or shaky floors. BTW, if you contemplate needing more than two of them, you can buy the foam from Auralex in bulk and make a bunch of 'em yourself at a very substantial savings. My wife suggested that I just get an aerobics step pad, which I think is actually not a bad idea at all.

Click to expand...

I agree on the hollow stage shaky floors. Can you expand on the differences between boundary coupling and mechanical coupling?

Intersting that you can buy the foam from Auralex. Blue prints as well?

That Gramma pad really does work well with the CXL 112. The CXL is focused to begin with and the Gramma makes sure that it stays that way on hollow floors. I am amazed at the number of shows I get away with just using that one cab with the Gramma.

Brother Vanselus nailed it with that one. I'm fortunate to have an iAmp 800 sitting on a Tri-112. This combo delivers the tonal truth and it can be brutal on a bad day My present favorite setting is flat with contour I...

Can you expand on the differences between boundary coupling and mechanical coupling?

Click to expand...

I think this is whats going on. Boundary coupling refers to when a bass cab is on the floor or in a corner, its louder. Refers to the boundary with adjacent walls/floors. The mechanical coupling is where the shaky wooden stage becomes a sounding board for the cab. Its pressed against the floor by gravity, the pressure makes the floor vibrate with the cab, they're "coupled" together.
Something like that.
Randy

I was wondering about the use of the Gramma Pad. I had a rather lenghty discussion with Jonh Dong (EA's cabinet designer and co-founder) about coupling and boundry effects that I'll write up and post on the EA website in the near future. In the meantime I was wondering about how/when you use it? are there times that you would rather have the cabinets coupled to the floor? Do you find it more helpful in certain situations than others?

Thanks
Dimin

Click to expand...

i use mine all the time. helps me find my sound without fighting the room perse.